Republicans

New York City’s ABC News affiliate reports: New York Congressman Peter King announced Monday morning he will not be seeking re-election in 2020. “After 28 years of spending 4 days a week in Washington, D.C., it is time to end the weekly commute and be home in Seaford,” the longtime GOP representative said in a statement posted to his Facebook …

CBS News reports: Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has gone back to calling the evergreen on display at the state Capitol a holiday tree, reversing his predecessor who declared it a Christmas tree. Former Governor Scott Walker made his displeasure known on Twitter. In 2007 the Republican-controlled state Assembly passed a resolution to call the tree a Christmas tree, but it …

Roll Call reports: Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson is considering a run for Congress in Texas, two sources familiar with his plans said Friday. Jackson was the chief White House physician in 2018, when President Donald Trump nominated him to be Veterans Affairs secretary. But Jackson withdrew his nomination from consideration amid allegations that he abused alcohol and mishandled prescription …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: Conservative political activist Frank Simon, a longtime supporter of Gov. Matt Bevin, is sending robocalls asking Kentuckians to report suspicious activity or voter fraud to the State Board of Elections before Nov. 14 — the day of Bevin’s requested recanvass. Bevin finished 5,189 votes behind Democrat Andy Beshear in Tuesday’s gubernatorial election but has refused to …

Axios reports: Republicans formally made Rep. Jim Jordan a member of the House Intelligence Committee on Friday, a move that will allow him lead the party’s defense of President Trump during public impeachment hearings next week. Privately, GOP members have said they think Jordan — one of Trump’s fiercest allies — is a stronger defender of the party and the …

The Guardian reports: Leaked Signal messages from an online chat network around six-term Washington state Republican representative Matt Shea show new evidence of violent fantasies, surveillance of perceived adversaries, conspiracy thinking, Islamophobia, and support for white nationalists. The messages from the chat group, exchanged between October 2017 and October 2018, show Shea’s network includes other serving, former and aspiring rightwing …

Politico reports: Democrats spent years sounding the alarm on “dark money” as groups pummeled their senators. Now, the left is the side delivering the early blow. A quartet of new nonprofit groups has already spent millions of dollars hammering four of the most vulnerable Republican senators on the ballot next year, sparking a wave of concern among strategists trying to …

NBC News reports: A professional referee says in a lawsuit filed Thursday that disgraced doctor Richard Strauss masturbated in front of him in a shower after a wrestling match at Ohio State University, and he reported the encounter directly to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who was then the assistant coach. “Yeah, that’s Strauss,” Jordan and then-head coach Russ Hellickson replied, …

Good grief, the bootlicking in this. Via press release: Jeff Sessions, former United States Attorney General and U.S. Senator, announced his candidacy for the United States Senate. He issued the following statement: “When I left President Trump’s cabinet, did I write a tell all book? No. Did I go on CNN and attack the President? No. Have I said a …

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: A growing number of Republican lawmakers are urging Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, a fellow Republican, to either provide evidence of the voting “irregularities” he has alleged or concede Tuesday’s election to Gov.-elect Andy Beshear, who defeated him by 5,189 votes. “The best thing to do, the right thing to do, is for Governor Bevin to concede …

The New York Times reports: Over the last week, Mr. Trump sent word to Mr. Sessions through allies that he would publicly attack him if he ran. And Mr. McConnell recently approached Mr. Trump, asking him whether his feelings about Mr. Sessions might have improved. The president said he was very much still opposed to Mr. Sessions and would make …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump urged supporters in Monroe, Louisiana, Wednesday night to cast their ballot early for Republican businessman Eddie Rispone, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in a Nov. 16 runoff election. Rispone, a wealthy Baton Rouge businessman, took the stage alongside Trump to declare Louisiana “Trump country.” Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: Citing “multiple reports of voting irregularities,” the campaign of Gov. Matt Bevin has formally requested an official recanvass of the results in Kentucky’s election for governor. Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear led Bevin by 5,189 votes after 100% of precincts reported voting results Tuesday night, after which Beshear declared victory to a crowd of supporters. However, …

The Hill reports: Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to announce plans to run for his former Senate seat before Friday, two sources told The Hill. A source who is in regular contact with Sessions said Wednesday there is “99 percent certainty he will announce today or tomorrow.” A separate source familiar with Sessions’s plans told The Hill that …

The Daily Beast reports: Standing beside an approving Donald Trump at a rally in Kentucky on Monday night, Republican Sen. Rand Paul demanded the media unmask the whistleblower whose report about the president’s alleged abuse of power dealing with Ukraine sparked impeachment proceedings. American news organizations resisted the pressure, but — in a 2019 re-play of “Russia, if  you’re listening” …

The Daily Northwestern reports: Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has championed students’ rights to free speech on college campuses throughout the country. On Tuesday, he spoke against the students protesting a talk he gave at Lutkin Hall on Tuesday, criticizing what he called their “stupidity” and adding that Northwestern should not tolerate such behavior. “I’m just going to tell …

Newsweek reports: After a highly contested race, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin is refusing to concede his seat, even though the race has been called in favor of his opponent by Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.  The Associated Press refused to call a winner due to the tight margin of the race. Bevin, citing “irregularities” in the voting process, …

The New York Times reports: Votes have started to come in for the governor’s race in Kentucky, which has been cast as a showdown between an unpopular governor and an unpopular party. The Republican incumbent, Matt Bevin, has focused his campaign on his alignment with President Trump and his opposition to impeachment, with the president holding a rally on Monday …

Axios reports: Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that he will not read any of the transcripts released Tuesday by the House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry, telling CBS News: ‘”I’ve written the whole process off … I think this is a bunch of B.S.” In a revision to his Oct. 17 testimony, U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon …

Reuters reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday predicted the Senate would acquit President Trump of any articles of impeachment passed by the Democratic-controlled House. “How long it goes on really just depends on how long the Senate wants to spend on it,” McConnell told reporters. “I will say I’m pretty sure how it’s likely to end. If …